Way too many cats!

[barb p 451]

That is a beautiful photo of the sleeping group - I wish mine got along that well together - we have to be careful because of this one not liking that one, etc.

And yes, "that look" is familiar - people recoil, look at you suspiciously.  We're setting up more indoor/outdoor spots and that side of the house is visible from the road so we'll have to have camouflage and add a privacy fence.  We're inside the "city limits" (a town of 500) and the limit is 4. 

Though if they're inside and cared for, I'm not sure how that is anybody's business.

 

[Sarthur2]

Geez ... None of these numbers or pictures even phase me. I must be immune from so many years of cat care-taking! I feel right at home in this thread! Cat power!

 

[Norachan]

 
@Norachan It's a wonderful territory.  I won't let my husband read this post cuz to be honest I'm almost jealous.  I have 5 and when I tell people this I get that "look".  You all know what I'm talking about.  I had 6 but Newman escaped from the house almost 3 weeks ago and is still lost to me.  I miss his presence in the house and am hoping that he'll come home one of these days.

Don't give up, one of my cats was gone for 3 and 1/2 weeks once but I managed to find her. I hope the Newman comes back soon. 

 

[katt2]

I take care of 50 cats everyday, I have 18 at home and the rest are on 2 farms, we had them all fixed,they are fed canned food and dry food everyday, I check all of them to make sure they are ok, it is a full time job, but I love it!

 

[barb p 451]

The mom of the week-old kittens (found

DSCN2422.JPG

• barb p 451
• Jun 6, 2015

under a porch in a cardboard box, nobody willing to claim her), in a state of bliss after deworming, weaning, spaying, lots of food, and the knowledge that she'll never be a street cat again.

Sending good thoughts for the return of Newman.  Have you thought about an animal communicator?  I have recently learned more about this and apparently sometimes they can be helpful in locating a lost kitty, or one that is busy exploring elsewhere for a while.

Good news to celebrate - the feral tom that was terrorizing our home and the couple of kitties allowed out on the deck has tested negative for Feluk and FIV, and will be neutered and rehomed to a farm - bless our country vet who is willing to advocate for the cats like this that show up every spring because of our neighbor's unfixed females.  I'm going to start a guerilla speutering campaign next year - trapping and fixing and re-releasing any kitty hanging around our place.  Some of the neighbors may wonder about the strange shave pattern on their cats' behinds.

Same neighbor was the source for a terrified kitten cowering in our ditch the night of July 4th, fearful of the fireworks, who turned out to be Feluk positive, the only kitten to survive the litter.  Born with the virus, I nursed her for a year (and loved her desperately) before losing her to a spinal tumor that paralyzed her, something I didn't realize came with the disease.  I'd had stray adults with leukemia that faded away, but never this.

 

[Norachan]

You're doing an amazing job with them all @Barb P 451  Have you thought about telling your story in our Friends Of Ferals thread? I think you'd qualify for a badge.

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/251561/friend-of-ferals-award-badge-apply-here

 

[barb p 451]

I'll have to look at that thread.  I was a little afraid after my last post that some might find my rehoming of the feral tom offensive. 

He was so aggressive - bit two of our girls that then required antibiotics for infection.  Tried to start fights through a screen window where the basement runs look out, hit the sliding glass door trying to get at the calico kitten sitting inside, caused a snarling, redirected-aggression fight stirring up two brothers in an outside protected pen, and I watched him spraying EVERYWHERE, which stirred up issues with some of the boys too, despite the fact they're all neuters.

It was a terror campaign.  My friend that heads up a long-time no-kill cat shelter near us said she would always try neutering first to see if that reduced the behavior, so I'm glad the vet is going to get him in shape to have a chance somewhere away from us.

 

[Norachan]

I take care of 50 cats everyday, I have 18 at home and the rest are on 2 farms, we had them all fixed,they are fed canned food and dry food everyday, I check all of them to make sure they are ok, it is a full time job, but I love it!

Nice to have you on The Cat Site @Katt2  Wow, 50 cats, that must keep you busy!

 

[Norachan]

 
I'll have to look at that thread.  I was a little afraid after my last post that some might find my rehoming of the feral tom offensive. 

He was so aggressive - bit two of our girls that then required antibiotics for infection.  Tried to start fights through a screen window where the basement runs look out, hit the sliding glass door trying to get at the calico kitten sitting inside, caused a snarling, redirected-aggression fight stirring up two brothers in an outside protected pen, and I watched him spraying EVERYWHERE, which stirred up issues with some of the boys too, despite the fact they're all neuters.

It was a terror campaign.  My friend that heads up a long-time no-kill cat shelter near us said she would always try neutering first to see if that reduced the behavior, so I'm glad the vet is going to get him in shape to have a chance somewhere away from us.

I don't think so. Part of taking care of a colony is making sure that fights are kept to a minimum. I just moved one cat from a colony I care for a few miles from here up to the house with the rest of us because she was getting bullied where she was. At least you're getting him fixed and checked over by a vet. Being a barn cat is a really good life for a feral cat that can't be rehomed.

 

[dandila]

What a wonderful story, Barb P 451.  As for rehoming the aggressive Tom...great job.  The only other alternative is euthanasia, right?

I have 8...two indoors and we're in the process of building a safe outdoor shelter/enclosure.  They are still working on getting along with each other.  I am hoping once my mother of two is spayed along with her kittens we will be one big happy family.  Hoping...

 

[nansiludie]

 
I'll have to look at that thread.  I was a little afraid after my last post that some might find my rehoming of the feral tom offensive. 

He was so aggressive - bit two of our girls that then required antibiotics for infection.  Tried to start fights through a screen window where the basement runs look out, hit the sliding glass door trying to get at the calico kitten sitting inside, caused a snarling, redirected-aggression fight stirring up two brothers in an outside protected pen, and I watched him spraying EVERYWHERE, which stirred up issues with some of the boys too, despite the fact they're all neuters.

It was a terror campaign.  My friend that heads up a long-time no-kill cat shelter near us said she would always try neutering first to see if that reduced the behavior, so I'm glad the vet is going to get him in shape to have a chance somewhere away from us.

I'd like to ask about the rehoming, could you wait and see after he's neutered how he does? I am worried about re-homing as it has to be done carefully, or he may get lost or worse if he tries to go back to where he was before he was moved. Alley Cat Allies recommends having a pen or enclosure of some sort to keep the cat in for two weeks or so for the cat to re-acclimate to the new area so he'll claim it as home. I don't know if the farm owner will do that or would be willing to do that. It is certainly something to think over carefully.

 

[barb p 451]

Thanks for all your thoughts on the feral. 

I am a giant bleeding heart.  I want to save them all.  I am a vegetarian because all my life I've loved animals to distraction, prefer them to people (present company excepted!), and at the age of 50-something could no longer say, "oh I just love animals....except for those animals over here, let's kill them and eat them".   Living in the Meat Belt, it has been tough going, and people actually recoil when they find out - you think YOU get weird looks when you say you have "X" number of cats.

Loving carnivorous cats, I deliberated and decided I would use only chicken-based diets, choosing them as the sacrificial species, and in my head expressing my thanks for their sacrifice, like Daniel Day-Lewis to the deer in "The Last of the Mohicans".  Which became an issue when my Joey developed food allergies and I had to go to a duck-based protein source for him.  Very conflicted.

So a kitty showing up staging random raids, who is making my life and the life of my wards hell, and that is not an exaggeration, I just can't bring myself to take any more of his issues on.  We are at the brink with the 11 we have, and there are two dogs and two horses that also require our attention, and an elderly parent still living. My husband wanted him euthanized, and I'm just fortunate that he tested clean of diseases, or he might be in Kitty Heaven already.  My vet, country fellow that he is, still thinks FIV is a death sentence.

In a perfect world, he would be carefully acclimated to a new home without other kitties, since his aggressiveness may be long wearing off.  I do feel sorry that he will be confused, though it's my understanding that he has been a happy camper to lounge in a cage at the vet's while they observed him, eating to his heart's content.  When we trapped him, as soon as I poured some dry food through the bars, he was delighted to eat and ignore his situation completely.  Having a ready food source will be a treat for this guy.

Other perfect-world scenarios would be my neighbors all fixing their cats and dogs and keeping them at home, the no-kill shelters having all the space and money they need to do the wonderful work they do, and a lightweight, dust-free litter that completely controlled odors throughout the house.  Oh, and my husband picking up after himself.

 

[Sarthur2]

B barb p 451

I'm not understanding what you did with this kitty that showed up? Did you TNR him?

You've certainly got your hands full though!

 

[barb p 451]

Yes, after several weeks of him showing up at any hour of the day or night, trying to start fights, ambushing and biting our couple of old spayed females sunning on the deck, and hosing down our deck and exterior cage area with urine, we finally trapped him.

When at the vet's to have abscesses treated that he has caused, I said to the vet, "what am I going to do?" and he said, catch him, bring him in, we'll fix him and find him a home.

So that's what we did.  Caught him a week ago, asked that they test him so I would know if he had exposed my girls to FIV - they are both vaccinated against Feluk.  Thank heaven he was clean (or maybe just not showing yet, but I am relieved).  He is to be neutered and rehomed as a barn cat somewhere here in our rural area. 

This is not a cat that I have ever seen before this spring.  There was another lovely classical tabby with white bib and boots that had been around and he got caught, but we let him go and he hasn't shown his face again.  He is the latest in a long line of beat-up looking males that show up in the spring and are not seen again.  Normally they're gone by now and we usually wait them out, but this one persisted.

So since nobody else was taking responsibility for him, I had to do something, and shots, neutering, and a chance at a new life seems the best of the poor options.

 

[Sarthur2]

Thank you for filling in that information. I applaud what you have done. As destructive as these males can be, it's so hard not to feel sorry for them. A barn cat life is, I think, a step up from the life he's been leading.

I'm about to TNR a tom who has taken up residence in my back yard, and who I think fathered the litter I have in my home now. My neighbors began feeding him months ago, and out of pity, I began giving him wet food. The better nutrition has improved his coat and healed some sores he had. I think I'll let him stay, and continue feeding him, and I'm hoping eventually he'll let me groom him (he's a matted up long-hair). So far he lets me pet him a bit, but he's skittish. Perhaps he was socialized somewhat as a baby. I see him peering through the screen of my back porch, watching the kittens play in the kitchen, and I think he's lonely. I'll have to see what happens.

 

[barb p 451]

Sarthur, civilizing and caring for a cat with possibilities is a wonderful thing - I will send good vibes that the lonely tom will come into the fold and enjoy a new life as a (neutered) member of your household.

We have adopted other toms that showed up in the past, but they were not violent like this one, and I just couldn't let him keep hurting ours, or inflaming the spraying/marking situation.  He will make someone a wonderful barn cat, and you're right, it's a far better life than he's been leading!

 

[magiksgirl]

Wow! Thank you everyone for the great work you're doing.

In Mexico, my country, caring for cats is not that widespread yet, much less caring for stray ones. 

Animal control usually takes the animals found on the street, keeps them 3 days and if not claimed or adopted (how are they going to be adopted if they don't let people know they have the animals? 

) they are put down.

Everyday, my heart aches seeing poor animals on the street thin and dirty. and knowing I can't save them all, I just can't afford to. I'm currently taking care of a stray-ish momma cat that came to me and that she had 4 babies (2 for which I found great homes), they are thriving, healthy and happy as well as momma (who was sterilized) and, even though they I only have 3, I'll temporarily struggle financially during their vaccine, deworm, sterilize phase.

I want to give my utmost thank you to you all who dedicate your time and resources for helping these animals in need.

Know that you are doing great and as long as everyone (including you and your family!!) are well fed with a clean bill of health, there should be no limit as to how many souls you can help.

I thank you everyone from the bottom of my heart for your great actions and am sure that they will be paid back to you tenfold, if not in your quality of life, at least in the love and gratitude you receive from these little souls.

Thank you everyone [emoji]9829[/emoji]

 

[dandila]

The financial part, for me anyway, seems to always work out somehow.  The mystery of the universe, I guess.  Simple things like being in line at the fabric store and some stranger offering me her 50% off coupon for the item I'm buying...an unexpected check in my mailbox...its been interesting to take note of extra money found here and there.  I know exactly what it is to be used for.

But you're right.  The true reward is in the heart.

 

[benthemon]

i just signed up for an account this evening, but i've been reading these forums for a few months. its really heartwarming to read about people who care so much for these cats who are too often neglected.

 

[raysmyheart]

 
i just signed up for an account this evening, but i've been reading these forums for a few months. its really heartwarming to read about people who care so much for these cats who are too often neglected.

Yes, it is so heartwarming, I agree! Also, welcome from Speedy and Marianne to this great site!!!